In this op-ed, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri explains why your healthcare is at stake in this year’s midterm elections.

One of my favorite parts of my job as a U.S. Senator is that I get to hear people’s stories. As I travel across Missouri, folks tell me about their passions and the issues that keep them up at night. No matter where I go, there’s one concern that people always talk to me about, regardless of whether they are a Democrat like me, a Republican, or not involved in politics at all: Missourians are worried about how this election is going to affect their access to healthcare. I am, too.

For far too many people, our healthcare system isn’t working. Folks are left with insurance premiums they can’t pay, prescription prices they can’t afford, and choices they shouldn’t have to make. And now, thanks to Missouri’s Attorney General and my opponent for U.S. Senate, Josh Hawley, Missourians are worried that they could once again be denied health insurance just because they’ve been sick before.

Earlier this year, Hawley filed a lawsuit that would strip protections from Missourians with pre-existing conditions. You read that right: he used Missouri taxpayer dollars to go to court and argue that insurance companies should not have to cover you if you have a pre-existing health condition – anything from asthma, diabetes, cancer, or high blood pressure. His lawsuit would also eliminate other healthcare protections under the Affordable Care Act – such as the requirement that insurance companies allow you to stay on your parent’s health insurance until you’re 26.

That’s unconscionable. I believe Hawley sees this lawsuit as a way to force the courts to do what Republicans in Congress couldn’t, despite many attempts: dismantle the healthcare system without a workable plan in place to fix it. He doesn’t even seem to care how his lawsuit would hurt the people of Missouri. As one Missourian told me, it’s like having a neighbor look you in the eye and tell you you’re worthless.

And worse, Hawley’s trying to claim that he supports the very protections he’s currently suing to take away. On November 6, we have an opportunity to take a stand with our vote. Together, we can show that we want quality, affordable healthcare — not another politician who says one thing and does another.

If we stop shouting at each other, I believe we can lower costs and fix our healthcare system so it works for everyone — but only if we work together. Frankly, it’s time to bring compromise back in style.

Earlier this year, I heard from a young woman who was shocked to find out that she could have saved a significant amount of money on her mother’s prescription if she had paid for it out-of-pocket instead of using her insurance. But her pharmacist wasn’t allowed to tell her that there was a cheaper option because of a law that prohibited them from helping her unless she asked.

That’s just plain wrong. We shouldn’t have to ask to make our healthcare system work for us.

I talked to some of my Republican colleagues and we went to work. Together, we passed legislation — the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act — that would ensure that pharmacists could help customers get their prescriptions at the most affordable price possible, and President Donald Trump signed this bill into law in October 2018. It was ridiculous that we even had to legislate on this, but by working across the aisle, we made it a little bit easier for folks to get the care they need at a price they can afford.

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This bill was just one small piece of the puzzle. I’m glad we were able to get rid of the pharmacy gag clause. But we also need to make sure women have access to the healthcare they need, including key preventative screenings. And we need to do more to lower costs. There’s bipartisan legislation I co-sponsored — with 12 Republicans and 11 other Democrats — that would stabilize the individual health insurance market and lower premiums for Missouri families. All we need is for Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to bring it to the floor for a vote.

And we need to bring down the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. No one should have to choose between paying for groceries or their medication. That’s why I worked across the aisle to conduct investigations into why pharmaceutical companies were raising prices on consumers. With those results, we were able to introduce the Making Pharmaceutical Markets More Competitive Act, another piece of bipartisan legislation, to increase competition and lower the cost of prescription drugs.

I am going to continue to work across the aisle to do whatever I can to improve our healthcare system while ensuring that current protections that prevent insurance companies from taking advantage of Missourians remain in place. But my opponent doesn’t feel the same way.

That’s what is at stake in the 2018 midterms. And I hope that no matter where you are from or what state you live in, you will educate yourself on the choices on your ballot and vote on November 6.